The term “smart city” conjures up a raft of images, from directing people to where they need to go to more efficiently handling chores, from electrical distribution to waste disposal.

Indeed, that’s the challenge. “smart city” is a vague catch-all term that essentially is impossible to precisely define. Almost any electronic means of making urban life better can be called a smart city initiative. At the same time, however, it is quite clear that modern telecommunications and IT are making cities run better.

This slideshow highlights several of those activities. Some are relatively modest and some are ambitious. What’s clear is that groups of very smart people are working to use technology to improve life in the city.